Lost another in QT

[dugthefish]

Picked up a Magnificent Rabbitfish today. Been at LFS for 2 months, shop pulled him back to QT last week after I said I'd take him.

Gal had a heck of a time getting him out of the store tank, took about 15-20 min. When she finally got him, he was black as night and freaking in the bag.

2 hour drive home in an insulated cooler. Floated bag for about 10 minutes, poured contents into 5 gallon bucket and began adding a cup of tank water every couple minutes. During this time, he was laying on his side at the bottom of the bucket.

Called store, advised this fish is NOT doing well. They responded that rabbitfish tend to freak during acclimation, this was normal, and he would recover in a couple hours. After about 40 minutes of adding tank water, I released him into tank.

Immediately went to the most secluded corner and laid on his side. I left him alone for a couple hours with lights off. When I came back to check, he was gone.

What did i do to kill this heretofore healthy, reputedly hardy fish???

 

[dugthefish]

During acclimation, immediately after releasing from bag into bucket

 

[Undertaker]

I tried quarantining fish, and never have has success with it. I find it stresses the fish out more than its worth. I've learned to buy from reputable fish stores check the fish out the best I can, and have them feed in front of me. I have not lost a fish sense. Just my opinion and experience.

 

[67chevellemalibu2]

Problem with that is every fish isn’t going to eat because they put food into the tank and especially a wrasse that has buried in the sand. Every fish we buy online or your LFS is a gamble.

 

[lion king]

Rabbitfish do tend to freak out pretty badly, but that level of stress may have been over the top. Every time you transport a fish it is a risk, sometimes the stress pushes what ever ailments they may have been living with to the limits. As far as your qt goes, 1st it needs to have a completely viable bio filter to support whatever you put in it. A fish like a rabbitfish needs at least a 20L tank, any larger fish or a large angel or tang would need even a larger qt. And always remember to test the sg of the bag and match your qt to the sg in the bag, today I would say definitely the majority of lfs are running low sg, 1.018 most common while I've even seen lower.

 

[Maritimer]

Was the water in the bucket the same temperature as the water in the tank, or cooling toward room-temperature?

I know that a lot of folks float their fish in the bag, then drip-acclimate or scoop cups of water into a bucket, which is usually on the floor. Unless it's very warm in those folks' homes, the water in the bucket will be significantly cooler than the heated water in the tank. I know that in my house it would be ... except maybe during June, July and August.

For that reason, after I feel that the SG in the fish's water has been brought close to that in the tank (or after I've brought the water in my QT to the same SG as the water the new fish are in), I'll re-bag the fish and float / temperature acclimate them as the _final_ stage of my acclimation process.

FWIW, rabbitfish _do_ tend to freak out, and they definitely tend to change colors to a darker "camouflage" pattern.

~Bruce

 

[RazorD]

It sounds like a good part of the stress may have been kicked off from the 15-20 minute battle to get him out of the tank at the LFS.

 

[Radman73]

Sorry for the loss.

Personally not a fan of drip or scoop acclimation for many of the reasons listed above. I've had the best luck floating to temp acclimate, open the bag and test the salinity(or have it tested from the tank the fish came from before leaving the store), match the QT SG to the fish, and release the fish. For whatever reason, when I drip acclimated, fish died. Float, match SG, and release has worked much better for me.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Personally, if your LFS is 2 hours away, you might want to bring them home in a bucket with air, rather than a bag. Just my 2-cents. Sorry about your loss

 

[4FordFamily]

I don’t drip acclimate or use the bag water at all. As soon as the bag is open the ammonia starts to convert immediately and quickly. I float the bag and release. First, I match the salinity in my quarantine tank to the LFS.

Unfortunately most LFS keep salinity much lower than we do in a reef tank, so if you don’t acclimate to a quarantine tank this will be hard to do.

I did a 15 minute acclimation prior in a bucket. Only enough water from the bag to ensure the fish was submerged in the bucket, and 3 1/2 cups of tank water 3-5 minutes apart. This worked well for me.

If a LFS was removing to quarantine I’m guessing it was sick. Starting off with a healthy fish is important. Sorry for the loss.

 

[4FordFamily]

I tried quarantining fish, and never have has success with it. I find it stresses the fish out more than its worth. I've learned to buy from reputable fish stores check the fish out the best I can, and have them feed in front of me. I have not lost a fish sense. Just my opinion and experience.

I’ve quarantined hundreds with mostly successes, particularly recently with the addition of the Hanna copper checker, good beneficial bacteria, and some trial tested quarantine procedures that cover almost everything.

 

[jsvand5]

I’ve never understood why the drip method got so popular and is still used today. Nothing good comes of it. I always set my qt with very low salinity. I usually go straight from the bag to 1.009 for hypo salinity treatment but even if I’m not doing hypo I set the qt around 1.015. I never even check the salinity that the fish is coming from because I’m always going to be lower than it in my QT. As the QT period gets close to ending I raise the salinity a bit every day until I get to 1.026 then into the display they go.

 

[dylana407]

I don't QT my fish or drip acclimate. Not even my blue tang and my PBT. So far I have only lost 2 fire fish and 1 royal gamma shortly after intro to the tank and don't know why. May be I need to pay attention to the SG level. I learn something new today.

 

[67chevellemalibu2]

I don't QT my fish or drip acclimate. Not even my blue tang and my PBT. So far I have only lost 2 fire fish and 1 royal gamma shortly after intro to the tank and don't know why. May be I need to pay attention to the SG level. I learn something new today.

You just opened a can of worms by saying you don’t qt. Lol

 

[theMeat]

Where does lfs keep salt level as compared to you?

 

[MUSBFRANK]

Foxfaces certainly do freakout a lot where they will seemingly arrest any moment thereafter, but taking 15/20min to catch the guy, then a 2hr drive in a bag, then a 40min acclimation in a bucket, yeah well no wonder he died, that was quite a bit to handle. If you have a qt why the 40min acclimation in a bucket (which I'll assume there was an air pump going as well), that just seems such a long period, I'm guessing that's your normal routine and everyone has their own, but I personally wouldn't do a 40min acclimation in a bucket when you have a qt, but kudos for having a qt and darkening the room after everything was said and done.

 

[Ferrell]

I’ve tried to follow @HotRocks & @4FordFamily qt practices to the best of my abilities.
Since it’s a qt I don’t care if I get some of the LFS water in the qt. I temp acclimate, salinity acclimate and do a quick release and begin treatment. Easy on the fish.
Oh one important factor I did get from them: Copper Power and a Hanna copper checker. Must haves!!

 

[Rython]

*edit* re-read the OP... this could have been any number of things, but it does seem like disease, acclimation, improper bagging, or trauma from the catch are the most likely causes.

You can get various battery operated aerators for $10 at wal-mart or amazon (or a fishing bait shop for that matter) that will work just fine if you decide to go that route. I've used a $10 BO aerator on a bucket with several fish for hours without a problem. If you KNOW your LFS doesn't run copper you can even drop a little prime in there. But be sure you KNOW.

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

You just opened a can of worms by saying you don’t qt. Lol

I was thinking the same thing! Hahahahahahaha